With 2014 coming to a close, FPS would like to wish its members, partners and other industry professionals a very safe and happy holiday season.

As we reflect on the past year, we would like to provide The Forest Products Report subscribers with a look at the most-read news stories.

Your regular news publication will resume on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015.

Stronger than steelSpace DailyFrom June 11: A Swedish-German research team has successfully tested a new method for the production of ultra-strong cellulose fibers at DESY's research light source PETRA III. The novel procedure spins extremely tough filaments from tiny cellulose fibrils by aligning them all in parallel during the production process

Better than plywoodSociety for Science & the PublicFrom May 28: A new material made from plant leaves could replace plywood for many uses. The material is strong, waterproof, cheap and easy to make. Two teens invented it using a blend of pineapple waste and recycled plastics.

California judge orders Lowe's must pay $1.6 million civil settlementFPSFrom Sept. 10: A California Superior Court judge ordered big-box retailer Lowe's to pay $1.6 million as part of a civil consumer protection action settlement. The order, handed down on Aug. 27, by Judge Paul M. Haakenson, came as a response to a case involving claims by the Marin County, California, district attorney's office that the retailer "unlawfully advertised structural dimensional building products for sale."

Railroad ties: An essential biomass power fuelBiomass MagazineFrom Aug. 20: Every year, millions of railroad ties in the U.S. are replaced. The wood that keeps trains on track is subject to a significant amount of wear and tear from constant train traffic and weather exposure. To keep the train system safe and reliable, these ties must be replaced every so often with new ones. So what happens to the used railroad ties?

Plywood alternative aims at easing hurricane seasonHouma Today March 19: Every summer, south Louisiana residents make a pilgrimage to hardware stores to stock up on big sheets of plywood, nails and other hardware in a perpetual battle against hurricanes. An inventor from Florida visiting Thibodaux has developed a system that may change that pilgrimage.

California to lock carbon on farms and forestsThe Huffington PostFrom April 30: o Climate change is bad for farms and forests, as the recent Showtime series "Years of Living Dangerously" makes abundantly — and painfully — clear. But farms and forests are also a key tool in the effort to slow climate change, because healthy trees and soils pull carbon from the atmosphere. California, meanwhile, has adopted ambitious — some would argue too ambitious — goals for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.

'Finnwood' a sustainable hardwood alternativeThe Philippine StarFrom June 25: Having participated at the Philippine World Building and Construction Exposition, the country's largest building and construction industry exhibition featuring local and international companies, a group of local Filipino and Finnish construction engineers are ready to answer Filipinos' demand for top quality sustainable wood products and building solutions. Local wood like narra and tanguile, in short supply due to illegal logging and subsequent log bans, are not only expensive but also unsustainable from economic and environmental standpoints to meet the needs of the growing construction industry.

BPA addresses inaccurate reportBiomass MagazineFrom May 7: Many wished it was a prank when, on April 1, one of the industry’s usual detractors released a report that alleges — once again — that biomass is harmful to the environment, and worse than coal. Rather than a scientific study, the report read as an 81-page editorial. This report was not peer-reviewed, nor was it joined or supported by any credible national environmental organization. National environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council have endorsed the use of biomass from wood waste by facilities mentioned in the report, such as the Plainfield Renewable Energy.

Deal allows for Walmart, Chick-fil-A on rare forest land in FloridaThe Associated Press via Wisconsin GazetteFrom July 16: Environmentalists are scratching their heads over a recent deal between the University of Miami and a Palm Beach County developer that will bring a Walmart store, restaurants and apartments to a section of rare forest. The Miami Herald reports that last month the university sold some 88 acres of rockland, which is habitat to plants animals and insects found nowhere else.

Process turns cellulose into energy storage devicesLaboratory EquipmentFrom April 9: Based on a fundamental chemical discovery by scientists at Oregon State Univ., it appears that trees may soon play a major role in making high-tech energy storage devices. OSU chemists have found that cellulose – the most abundant organic polymer on Earth and a key component of trees – can be heated in a furnace in the presence of ammonia, and turned into the building blocks for supercapacitors.